Contract for Excellence Update
The Contract for Excellence (C4E) program is an accountability program that requires certain school districts to develop a plan that will show the state how the district will spend their Foundation Aid increase on new programs and activities or expansion of programs to improve student achievement. These programs must predominately benefit students with the greatest educational needs including students with limited English proficiency, students living in poverty and students with disabilities.
In the 2007-08 school year 56 school districts were required to comply with the C4E program. In the 2008-09 school year 39 districts will be required to comply with the C4E program, including three new districts.
Twenty of the current C4E districts will no longer be C4E districts in 2008-09. These twenty districts are no longer subject to the C4E requirements because they either did not have a 2008-09 Foundation Aid increase greater than 10% or 20% over two years, or because they no longer have a school in need of improvement (Year 2). The New York State Board of Regents had advocated for, and NYSUT supported, a legislative proposal to require C4E districts to participate in the program for a minimum of three years. However, the legislature did not enact this requirement.
The legislature did adopt a new maintenance of effort requirement that mandates all districts continuing as C4E districts in the 2008-09 school year must maintain C4E programs that were started in the 2007-08 school year.
For 2008-09 all C4E districts must spend their additional Foundation Aid on allowable programs—class size reduction, increased time on task, improving teacher/principal quality, restructuring middle/high school, full day pre-kindergarten/kindergarten, programs for students with Limited English Proficiency, and Experimental Programs. However, districts are provided with some flexibility— a 4% inflation factor is provided, meaning that 4% of the Foundation Aid increase can be used for any purpose. In addition, all C4E districts are provided with a flexibility factor of 25%, 35% or 50%. The flexibility factor, which is determined based upon the district’s improvement or corrective action status, allows C4E districts to use either 25%, 35% or 50% of their Foundation Aid increase to pay for the increased costs of existing allowable programs. The remaining funds must be used for new allowable programs. The following page lists the 39 C4E districts and their flexibility factors for the 2008-09 school year.
CONTRACT FOR EXCELLENCE DISTRICTS FOR 2008-09
| BEDS | District Name | Flexibility Factors | 2008-09 Newly Identified |
| 10100 | Albany | 4%, 35% | |
| 10601 | South Colonie | 4%, 35% | |
| 11200 | Watervliet | 4%, 50% | |
| 30200 | Binghamton | 4%, 35% | |
| 60800 | Dunkirk | 4%, 35% | |
| 70600 | Elmira | 4%, 35% | |
| 81200 | Norwich | 4%, 35% | |
| 90501 | Northeastern | 4%, 50% | |
| 130801 | Hyde Park | 4%, 50% | |
| 131601 | Arlington | 4%, 50% | |
| 132101 | Wappingers | 4%, 50% | |
| 140600 | Buffalo | 3%, 25% | |
| 170500 | Gloversville | 4%, 35% | NEW |
| 222000 | Watertown | 4%, 35% | |
| 260501 | Greece | 4%, 50% | |
| 261600 | Rochester | 3%, 25% | |
| 270100 | Amsterdam | 4%, 35% | |
| 300000 | New York City | 3%, 25% | |
| 412300 | Utica | 4%, 35% | |
| 421800 | Syracuse | 4%, 50% | |
| 430700 | Geneva | 4%, 35% | |
| 441000 | Middletown | 4%, 35% | |
| 441301 | Valley-Montgmr | 4%, 50% | |
| 441600 | Newburgh | 4%, 35% | |
| 441800 | Port Jervis | 4%, 50% | |
| 460500 | Fulton | 4%, 35% | |
| 460701 | Hannibal | 4%, 50% | |
| 460902 | Mexico | 4%, 50% | NEW |
| 461300 | Oswego | 4%, 35% | |
| 500201 | Haverstraw-Stoney | 4%, 35% | |
| 512001 | Massena | 4%, 50% | |
| 530600 | Schenectady | 4%, 35% | |
| 550101 | Odessa-Montour | 4%, 50% | NEW |
| 580105 | Copiague | 4%, 35% | |
| 591401 | Monticello | 4%, 35% | |
| 600801 | Spencer Van Etten | 4%, 50% | |
| 661401 | Ossining | 4%, 50% | |
| 662200 | White Plains | 4%, 50% | |
| 662300 | Yonkers | 4%, 50% |
Download the 2008-09 Contract for Excellence dollar amounts.
(646K Excel spreadsheet)
Provided by the State Education Department
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